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Fiery end to Christopher Dorner hunt Christopher Dorner's fate uncertain as siege ends in burnt-out cabin
(about 1 hour later)
The biggest US police manhunt in living memory appeared to be over on Tuesday night after Christopher Dorner was cornered in a mountain cabin outside Los Angeles in a siege which ended with the building engulfed in flames and his fate still uncertain. The biggest US police manhunt in living memory appeared to end on Tuesday night as Christopher Dorner made a bloody, fiery and apparently final stand in a mountain cabin outside Los Angeles.
After a dramatic shootout with law enforcement officers in which one sheriff's deputy was killed and another injured, the fugitive ex-police officer, who had already murdered three people in his revenge killing spree, barricaded himself inside the unoccupied rental cabin in the San Bernardino mountains. Police expected to recover his body from smouldering wreckage that was too hot to immediately enter after a blaze turned the fugitive's wood-panelled refuge into a likely pyre, a dramatic climax to a rampage that transfixed the country.
Hundreds of officers backed by helicopters and military equipment surrounded the building, and a Swat team moved in. The blaze began soon after teargas was fired into and around the cabin. A single gunshot was heard, after which no more shots were fired from inside. Hundreds of officers backed by helicopters and military equipment watched the cabin burn, the flames illuminating the night, after a siege that claimed the life of one deputy sheriff and wounded another.
Officers surrounding the cabin visibly relaxed as hours passed and the blaze slowly reduced the structure to a charred skeleton. Dorner, 33, a former LAPD officer who had already murdered three people in his vendetta against California's law enforcers and their families, barricaded himself inside the unoccupied rental cabin after a shootout and chase by vehicle and foot.
But around 8pm local time, LAPD commander Andrew Smith dismissed media reports that a body had been found inside the burned-out wreckage. "That cabin is still too hot to make entry. That cabin still has not been searched. Any reports of a body being found (are) not true." He said further information would come from the San Bernardino sheriff's department. Hundreds of rounds were fired in the ensuing siege. The blaze began soon after teargas was fired into and around the cabin. During a lull in shooting a single gunshot from inside the cabin was heard.
Much of the climax to Dorner's bloody vendetta against the force unfolded live on television, transfixing viewers. A reporter for a local station, KCAL, broadcast the sound of screaming and hundreds of gunshots at the beginning of the siege. "People on the scene are as confident as they can be without seeing the body that it is Dorner inside," LAPD chief Charlie Beck told reporters.
The drama had begun around midday when the former navy reservist stole a white Dodge pick-up truck near Angelus Oaks, a remote wooded area about 20 miles from Big Bear, which had been the focus of the search. He added: "It is a bittersweet night. This could have ended much better, it could have ended worse. I feel for the family of the deputy who lost his life."
The vehicle's owners notified authorities that a man fitting Dorner's description had stolen the vehicle. Fish and Wildlife officers intercepted and pursued Dorner. He crashed, exchanged gunfire with the officers and broke into an unoccupied rental cabin, authorities said. Local media reported that a body had been recovered but Commander Andrew Smith of the LAPD contradicted that and said the dozens of officers on Dorner's hitlist would remain under protection until he was confirmed dead or captured. "That cabin still has not been searched. It's too hot in there. Any reports of a body being found [are] not true."
Reinforcements from the San Bernardino sheriff's department swiftly surrounded it. Dorner threw a smoke bomb and tried to flee on foot, only to retreat back inside. In the fusillade two deputies were shot. Both were evacuated to Loma Linda University medical centre. One died of his wounds. The other underwent surgery and was expected to survive. Cindy Bachman, a spokesperson for San Bernardino county sheriff's department, which was in charge of the scene, said officials believed the suspect was inside but they had yet to enter the cabin because it was too hot.
/>The relief on the faces of her colleagues told its own story: they appeared convinced the rogue former officer was dead and that they could now sleep easy.
The live images were likely to boost Dorner's status as a heroic outlaw to a small but vocal online community that has cheered his rampage as comeuppance for an allegedly racist and violent police force. Much of the climax to Dorner's bloody vendetta against the force unfolded live on television, transfixing viewers. A reporter for CBS broadcast the sound of screaming and hundreds of gunshots at the beginning of the siege.
The deputy's death brought to four the number Dorner is blamed for killing in a vendetta against the LAPD, which sacked him in 2008. The drama began in the morning when two housekeepers entered a vacation cabin beside a golf course and discovered the fugitive inside. The cabin was reportedly close to the police command post that co-ordinated a massive but fruitless search in the area after Dorner abandoned his pick-up truck there last Thursday, an embarrassing revelation if confirmed.
Before his rampage Dorner posted a lengthy online "manifesto" that accused the department of racism and deception, and named about 40 people on a hit list. The former navy reservist tied up the housekeepers, stole their car but crashed it. He then commandeered a purple Nissan.
Fish and wildlife rangers intercepted and chased Dorner. He started shooting and hit their vehicle but caused no injuries. He briefly shook off his pursuers by overtaking two school buses and leaving the highway, said Patrick Foy, a spokesman with the department of fish and wildlife, but other units found him after he again crashed.
He fled on foot to the nearest rental cabin and was swiftly surrounded by reinforcements from the San Bernardino sheriff's department.
In the ensuing battle two deputies were shot. Both were evacuated to Loma Linda University medical centre. One died of his wounds. The other underwent surgery and was expected to survive. Feelings against Dorner ran high. "I hope he burns," said Michael Mitchell, a volunteer at the clinic.
It seemed he soon got his wish. Flames engulfed the cabin, sending plumes of smoke skyward, and there was no more shooting from inside.
The dramatic finale was likely to boost Dorner's status as a heroic outlaw to a small but vocal online community that has cheered his homicidal spree as comeuppance for an allegedly racist and violent police force.
Dorner had a grudge because the force sacked him in 2008 saying he had falsely accused a colleague of kicking a homeless man.
Before his rampage Dorner posted a lengthy online "manifesto" that accused the department of racism and deceit. He insisted he had told the truth about the kicking.
"You're going to see what a whistleblower can do when you take everything from him especially his NAME!!!" he wrote. "You have awoken a sleeping giant.""You're going to see what a whistleblower can do when you take everything from him especially his NAME!!!" he wrote. "You have awoken a sleeping giant."
The killing began on 3 February with the murder of Monica Quan, 28, the daughter of a retired police captain, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, 27. They were shot dead in their car. The killing began on 3 February with the murder of Monica Quan, 28, the daughter of a retired police captain, and her fiance Keith Lawrence, 27. They were shot dead in their car.
Last Thursday, four days later, a man believed to have been Dorner exchanged shots with a patrol, grazing one officer in the head, and later two other officers were ambushed. Michael Crain, 34, a veteran, was killed and a trainee officer was wounded. Four days later an officer, Michael Crain, 34, was killed and two others were wounded.
Dorner vanished after abandoning and burning his damaged pick-up truck on a forest road in Big Bear, a snowy ski resort. He eluded a massive manhunt, prompting a $1m bounty for his capture. After Dorner vanished authorities announced a $1m bounty for his capture, California's largest in living memory. LAPD chief Charlie Beck called the vendetta a campaign of domestic terrorism.
Dorner apparently trekked about 20 miles over a ridge to Angelus Oaks and invaded a home, tying up its two occupants and laying low while police searched the mountains in vain.
With the search in that area winding down it was unclear what prompted his attempt to flee on Tuesday.
As TV showed a raging battle around the cabin, its owner, Candy Martin, 85, tuned in from LA and watched "in a state of shock", she told the LA Times. The house was easy to break into but had no cable, phone, internet or firearms, she said. "I hope that they catch him and this whole horrible thing is put to rest."